(to continue our earlier discussion) Thanks for answering about an upgrade to the EF-S 18-55mm IS II (despite that you had already compared the original 18-55 to the very lens I was considering here ). From what I've read, the current version IS II is much improved.

Going by the dogma that a prime is better than a zoom, I started looking at the EF 24mm/2.8. I found these 2 apparently thorough articles, on the EF-S 18-55 IS and the EF 24/2.8 where it looks like the zoom measures better than the prime.

Is this just a case of reviewing a bad copy of the 24mm/2.8 ? Or is the kit lens just that good?

I've never tested the 24/28 against a new 18-55IS II, so I can't really compare image quality. The 24/2.8 is a decent lens, but probably not one of Canon's sharpest primes. I own one and I use it and I like it, but the corners are slightly soft, especailly on full frame at wide apertures. However if you want a really sharp prime that's affordable, the EF 85/1.8 USM is truely outstanding and even the humble Canon EF 50/1.8 II will outperform most zooms.